Birthday Gifts
by OverMaster
Summary: It's Negi Springfield's 18th Birthday, and after his big party, everyone... and we mean EVERYONE... lines up with a very special gift for him. Can Negi survive until he's 19? Rated M for Mature Themes, adult farce and tiny lemon bits.
1. Chapter 1

The standard disclaimer, because I'm too darn lazy to write an all new one:_ Mahou Sensei Negima_ and all related elements and characters are the property and creation of Akamatsu Ken, and the author of this humble piece has made no material profit from it, and never will do.

Any non-parodic, non-totally safe similarity between the characters and events featured or mentioned in this story and anyone or anything ever actually seen in real life is a pure coincidence. I mean it. Would I ever lie to you? Huh? Huh?

Please review to your heart's content!

BIRTHDAY GIFTS.

It had been a wonderful birthday party, although after seven years of royal birthday parties at his Mother's regained castle with everyone in attendance, Negi just didn't feel the same childlike thrill about it anymore. Still, he greatly valued all the care and effort his friends, even those who once were foes, and family put into it. He only wished some of them hadn't drank that much.

As the young man reached his bedroom's door, he absently checked on the hour. 3:25 A.M. Wow, later than he expected. He almost felt like being able to celebrate a bit more, but all in all, it probably was for the better just calling it a night.

He closed the door behind himself only to gasp in shock. Evangeline was smiling sultrily, lying on her side, and on his bed, wearing nothing but a black yet fully transparent negligee that didn't hide a single inch of the bare body underneath, and a large black gift bow on the top of her head.

"M-Master!"

"Happy Birthday again, Boyo..." she purred. "Hm, hm, hm, now you're 18, no one will be able to protest about this, not even you. It's time for you to learn the most important lesson of them all..."

By now, Negi Springfield already was an ace at identifying innuendo when he heard it, but also an ace of avoiding acting on it. "N-No, we can't! It's... It's wrong!"

"Why? You already are the right age."

"But you're my student!"

"I graduated years ago, you idiot!"

"And I'm your student!"

"I already graduated you, too!"

She rose up to hug the paralyzed boy, rubbing her right cheek against his strong chest. "Oh God, I've been waiting so long for this moment..."

At that moment, someone knocked at the door.

"Curses!" Eva hissed. "We'll continue this later, " With that, without even waiting for his approval, she locked herself inside of Negi's closet.

"Master, are you really hiding?" Negi blinked.

"HAH!" her voice came from the inside. "Evangeline AK Mc Dowell hides from no one! This is only a strategic temporary repositioning to avoid answering to annoying lesser beings! Now go open that door and dispatch that interloper away quickly!"

The boy stood there in dumbed down silence for a few moments before the knocks on his door brought him back to reality.

"G-Going!" he said, shakily walking ahead and opening. He found himself face to face (more or less, since he had grown much taller than them) with Nodoka and Yue, both wearing matching thick night shirts that reached down to their knees. "Ah-ah, it's you, girls. How can I help you?"

"C-Can we get in, Sensei?" the taller librarian asked, sounding much more unsure than usual, almost as much as she did back in her early mid school years.

His first impulse was to find an excuse to say no, before something bad happened, but before he could utter the words, Yue took the horse by the reins and nearly dragged her friend in with herself. "Thank you," the still tiny girl said, closing the door behind themselves.

"You're welcome..." the young man tried to laugh. "So, um, is there anything wrong?"

"Negi," Yue began, fighting the faint blush on her cheeks. "Since we graduated, we've been living together, haven't we?"

"Well, of course..." he said with a vague nod, half not getting what she was trying to say, and half not wanting to get it. "You've done an excellent job handling the Royal Library..."

"Thanks. It's been a pleasure, " Ayase briefly smiled. "Still, to be with you, we left our families, our home world, even our chances for a college education, behind. I know you never asked that from us, and we'll never regret doing it. But... by now... we think it's time for a... a... a deeper payoff... to our relationship," she fumbled with the words.

"Ah?" Negi blinked.

"Sensei, we—" Nodoka drew in a deep breath, "We want to make you happy in all the ways we can! We want to give you everything we have!" she rushed the sentences out before she lost the will to utter them.

"You mean..." the boy gulped.

"Negi, we're 22 now," Yue replied. "I'd say we have... waited enough. We hate feeling we're pressuring you, but we also are starting to feel we are doing nothing but running in circles."

"But, the thing is—!" he started, without the slightest idea of how to finish the sentence. He felt half-terrified, half-thankful upon being interrupted by another knock at the door.

"Oh, no!" Nodoka gasped. "If anyone sees us here, they might think we're—"

"Aren't we?" Yue silenced her with a finger over her own lips before telling her former teacher, "Negi, please cover us, okay? Nodoka, to the balcony, quick." She pulled her almost sister out with herself, closing the curtains behind themselves.

"I, uh, ah, eh...!" Negi couldn't reply before they stepped out of sight. Then the knocks insisted, so he had to go see who it was at the door.

"Negi..." It was Kotarou, slightly hunched up with an empty glass in a hand, smirking goofily at him. "I was lookin' for you, man!" His voice was erratic and gurgling, clearly inebriated. "The night's still young! Let's drink some more, okay?"

"Kotarou-kun, you know I'm a horrible drinker!" Negi frowned. "And so are you! Where's Natsumi-san? I didn't think she'd let you—"

His friend stumbled inside with a grunt. "Nat-chan? I dunno. Mebbe she went ta sleep. God, she can be overbearin' at thimes... Mind if I crash in for a while? My head's killin' me..."

Negi sighed while closing the door again. The last thing he needed was Natsumi barging in while Eva was in his closet and the librarians chilling at the balcony. He'd try to talk some sense into Kotarou and send him back to his room as fast as he could. "You two fought again?"

"Man, I dunno what's gotten into her lately." Kotaro slumped down onto Negi's bed. "She's just so... demanding, you know? Like she wants to go way further ahead way too fast..."

"Y-Yeah, I guess I can understand that..." Negi nervously chuckled.

"It's not I don't like her, but sometimes I just wonder if we're really meant to be together. We hardly see eye to eye on anythin'... I'm startin' ta think maybe we'd be better with people we have more in common with..."

"D-Don't say that!" Negi said. "Natsumi-san is a wonderful person!"

"Yeah, but maybe I should be with another kind of wonderful person..." His nose sniffed Negi's bedsheets fondly, and his hands absently wandered up to his pillow, vaguely playing with it in a nearly puppylike fashion. "Someone who really knows how I feel... Someone I can talk heart ta heart with..."

For some reason, Negi was starting to feel an ill omen about that latest turn of events.

Kotarou was wagging his tail. "Someone I can see as my equal, not as my superior, like that bossy girl. Someone who shares my interests..."

_Dear God, please let him be talking about Kaede. Please let him be talking about Kaede_, Negi repeated in his mind.

Negi contemplated his options. A simple sleep spell would be more than enough to put the already dozy Kotarou to snore, and then he could just carry him back to his own room. He'd have done just that if it didn't mean leaving Eva, Nodoka and Yue alone in the room... somewhat he was very sure of being a very bad idea.

Calling for Natsumi or Chizuru to come for him was also out of considering; Kotarou could start argue with them, and the whole situation would just escalate. Letting Kotarou to sleep on his bed was another thing he'd just have done under different circumstances, but he wasn't sure of it being wise at all now. With him drooling on the pillow and placing absent chomps that almost looked like kisses on it, and everything. Negi liked to think of himself as very accepting of all different lifestyles, but if there was one thing where he drew a line of being different from his father, that was the part involving kissing men.

"Kotarou-kun, " he gently prodded his friend's right shoulder.

"Mmmm?"

"You're too drunk. You should take a quick shower and see if that snaps you out of it."

Kotarou blinked very slowly. "Shower...?"

"Yes, I think you need a cold— I mean, a hot shower to wake you up. Since, um, you kinda aren't being the same..."

"Nonsense. I'm as clear minded as always, if not more," the wolfboy sat up, putting a paw over his heart. "Yep, now I see things for what they really are. I see what's what I really want in life!" he shouted, despite Negi's desperate gestures for him to keep his voice low. "Who needs wimmen?-! All I need is my bestest pal! My Bro! My— My—".

He stopped, smiling dumbly.

"Then again, a bath sounds kinda nice... Yeah, a long hot one..."

"A quick one would work just fine!" Negi laughed stiffly.

Kotarou already was pulling his shirt off, revealing his manly, strong, scarred torso. "Let's go, then! Like the old times! Me an' me pal, takin' a comfy bath together, talkin' stuff far from the gossipy hens..."

"S-Sorry, but my bathroom is too small to fit both of us—"

Kotarou already was tugging his pants down. His own, mind you. Sorry, everyone else who hoped differently. "You sure? I don't mind being a bit squeezy in with y—"

Negi forced another laugh. "Ah, you're such a joker! Just get in there and enjoy yourself!" he said while nearly pushing him inside of his shower stall.

"... Okay, but you'll clean it up afterwards."

"Yeah, yeah, " Negi nodded, closing the stall's door after him, only to realize then what had his friend just meant. He did a spit-take.

Before his mind could process all that, they knocked at the door again.

Maybe if he just ignored it...

Negi remained perfectly still and silent.

They knocked again.

There were faint sounds of motion from inside the closet.

Before Evangeline could step out to open the door, Negi bolted for it. All he found at his doorstep, however, was a huge cake almost as tall as himself. At least it wasn't anyone else. Better to bring it inside before it drew anyone's attention.

He thought it came from Satsuki at first, but as he carried it inside (oddly, it felt heavier than a cake should, even one of that size), he noticed a small note attached to it.

_To Negi-kun: Have the happiest birthday of your life! With love, from Sakurako and Madoka_.

Negi smiled, moved by that. "Girls..."

Then it hit him like a brick.

Sakurako and Madoka?

But then, where did that leave...?"

"Oh no."

He slowly turned his paled face towards the cake just as a sweet, melodic voice began to sing from its inside.

_"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you... Happy Birthday, dear Sen-seiiii..."_

Kakizaki Misa emerged from the cake like a butterfly out of a cocoon, sensually stretching herself up, wearing nothing but tiny, very racy black lingerie.

_"Happy Birthday. To. You."_

"Gah... Gah... Gah..." his jaw trembled, his eyes round and blank.

Misa craned her neck ahead, blew some cake from her own face into his nose, and then mischievously licked it off, with a wink.

For a moment, a vehement voice at the back of his mind just yelled for him to forget everyone else, carry her to the bed and have the happiest birthday of his life.

However...

"M-M-M-Misa-san!" Negi quickly pulled back, fighting hard to drown his hormones down into a sea of 'This won't end well' thoughts. "What do you think you're doing?-!"

"Hmmmm?" she sweetly hummed, fixing a mischievous kittenish smirk up. "Oh, it's more about what I... no, we'll be doing..."

"Not funny, Misa-san!" he said. "You can't just barge into a man's room and, umm..." his voice trailed off as he saw Misa sitting down at the cake's edge, crossing her succulent long legs in an extremely tempting way, "Ah... I mean, that thing where... It's wrong, because... uhh, I like you, but I couldn't..." he noticed her suddenly disappointed, shocked glare, "I mean, I could! It's just we shouldn't!"

Misa feigned innocence. "Have I said we would do anything but friendly cuddling up together to celebrate this wonderful date?"

He blinked. "Huh? No, you haven't, but—"

She leaned her head upon his chest and purred. "Then let's do just that..."

"O-o-O-o-Okay..." his eyes twitched oddly while he allowed her to rub her head against his body.

Then she started kissing his collarbone.

"Th-Th-That's more than simple friendly cuddling!" he all but squealed.

"Haven't you ever heard of the term 'friends with benefits'...?" she said, nibbling on his flesh, leaving tiny hickeys on it...

And then someone knocked at the door.

Misa pulled back immediately. "Shit! And I was so close, too!"

She quickly grabbed a bedsheet, jumped back inside of the cake, and covered all of the cake up. "Get rid of whoever it is fast so we can continue!" she commanded from her hiding place.

"But..." Negi began.

"Now!" Misa said.

Negi finally began to understand why had his father become a lonely vagrant, but before he could meditate further on the subject, the knocks continued. Going through the list of admirers in his head and dreading who could come next, he dragged his feet to the door and opened it...

"NEGWIIII-KUUUNNNNN!" Konoka jumped into his arms, tackling him down to the floor while a flushing, sighing Setsuna stood back.

"Gah! Konoka-san!" Negi tilted his head aside to escape the cloud of alcoholic smell coming out of his old roommate's mouth. "H-How much did you drink at the party?"

"'Twas only three glasshes, Negwi-kunnn..." Konoka giggled, quickly mounting his chest, her white dress slightly disarranged. "Don't be such a shpoilshport. This is shupposed two bwe yer big day! Enjoy! WHEEE!" she threw her arms around.

"Setsuna-san, why did you bring her here?" the boy mage gave the bodyguard a mortified look. "She should be at her room, sleeping this off..."

Setsuna lowered her head, fidgeting nervously. "I apologize, Negi-sensei. But we had agreed to do this long before your party started. As a matter of fact, if Ojo—Kono-chan drank, it was only to give herself more confidence."

A sudden terror gripped Negi. "More confidence... for what?"

Setsuna shyly pushed the door behind herself closed with a foot.

"Oh no..." Negi sweated bullets.

"We botch wuv u a much, Negwi-kuuunnn..." Konoka smiled angelically as her fingers fumbled around with his buttons. "It'sh okway, Gwampa gwave his blessin'... Shaid he even hooped fer a schild 'fore Deshember...!" her giggling reached an unusually high pitch, as tiny drops of saliva fell down her mouth and on the prone Negi's frozen face.

"Setsuna-san...!" he practically wailed, but all rational hope left him when he saw Setsuna was uneasily pulling her own shirt open, showing off both her white bra and her wide white feathery wings.

"I know I'm not as beautiful as Kono-chan, and I ask for no more than you to make her happy..." then she reluctantly, yet hopefully added, "But, if your warm heart could see fit to share your special kindness with me as well...?"

Negi choked on his own tongue seconds before Konoka brought her mouth down on his.

Negi was seeing stars as Konoka finally broke the kiss, licking her lips up and down. "That was wonderfull, Negwi-kunnnn..." she slurred. "Sho mush bwetter than our firsht kissch..."

"Yes, it was..." he babbled before saying, "But it's wrong! You are not in your right mind now! Setsuna-san, you have to understand, even if she can't!"

The sober half hanyou shifted a foot around awkwardly. "But we took this decision long ago, when Ojou-sama hadn't even drunk a drop..."

Konoka hiccuped, then fell on her back and off Negi, rolling on the floor like a baby, hugging herself. "Ahhhh, Negwi-kunnnn, I feel so hot... I think I'll have to strip down..."

He took his chance to stand back up, his eyes turned into giant saucers. "Y-You can't let her do this, Setsuna-san! She'll regret it tomorrow early!"

"Will not!"

Setsuna blinked, thinking it over before shyly saying... "Maybe... we two could do it until she recovers her full senses? A bodyguard's duty is to check anything her master will use, to verify if it's safe for her." She paused, then bashfully added, "And I *have* seen you in the bath. If you aren't careful, you might hurt Ojou-sama with such a big—"

"I wuv dat idea, Setchwan!" Konoka pumped a fist up. "I wanna watsch!"

(Knock, knock) the door sounded again.

"Interlopers!" Out of pure instinct, Setsuna's fingers moved for Yuunagi.

"Disaster!" Negi gasped.

"Foursome!" Konoka's eyes shone.

Setsuna grabbed her by an arm and ducked under Negi's bed with her. "Sensei, we'll continue this conversation later! But please don't allow anyone to learn about this! Ojou-sama has a reputation to keep!"

"Wheee, Setchan, naughwtyyy!" Konoka sing sang. "We'd never done it *under* the bed! I wike it!"

Negi prayed for Setsuna to be able to keep her quiet before sighing, swallowing, and walking for the door, so nervous he didn't even remember his shirt still was unbuttoned.

He warily opened the door, now facing a tearful, sobbing Murakami Natsumi.

"Where is he?" the actress said.

"Kotarou-kun?" he asked back, rather lamely.

"Who else?" Natsumi forced her way inside, looking around. "I need to talk with him! He just stormed out of there when I had something so important to tell him! Arrgh, it's always the same! You have no idea how frustrating it is!"

"H-Have you looked in his room?" Negi stammered.

"Of course I've!" Natsumi sniffled. "Kaede hasn't seen him, either, nor Asuna or Ku! All three of them were too busy rushing elsewhere to even help me look for it! This is the second best place to look for him! Sensei, if you're hiding him—!"

"I'm... not!" he lied, hoping to send her away before a situation exploded. "Why don't you calm down and head back to your room? I'll look for him, and when I find him, I'll tell him you—"

"Is he in the closet?" Natsumi angrily knocked at the closet's door.

"N-NO!" Negi panicked.

The actress narrowed her eyes. "Then why are you scared about it? He IS there, isn't he?"

"N-No, it's just...! Just...!" he finally sighed. "You caught me, Murakami-san, I don't want for you to look there... because I have... ahhh... a stash of dirty magazines hidden there," he lied again.

Natsumi blinked, stunned for a moment before blushing. "Well... it's a natural thing for a boy to keep, especially one who's teased as often as you. I-I understand. It must be hard, standing under all that pressure."

"Yes, it's... hard..." he sat down on the bed, slumping his back in defeat, his arms casually falling on his lap while remembering the last few encounters of the night.

Natsumi's anger seemed to cool down a bit as she sat down next to him, patting him on a shoulder. "They all mean well, you know."

"Yes, I don't doubt it. It's just... they want to go too fast and into too many separate directions at once. I feel torn apart between them, Natsumi-san. And the worst part is, I can't even tell them how do I—" He bit his tongue, realizing at least some of them must have been hearing.

A soft muffled moan came from under the bed. Natsumi blinked. "What was that?"

"Errr, I have mice in here," Negi sweated.

"Those mice kinda sound like Setsuna."

A new, now giggling sound alerted her.

"And that one sounds a bit like Konoka."

"It's only their chirping, " Negi said. "Mundus Magicus mice are... different."

"Oh, of course. Sorry, " Natsumi nodded. "Don't be so down, Sensei. I feel like I'm torn, too. Kotarou never seems to want to think about the future; he just wanders aimlessly through life, with no goals, no objectives other than 'becoming stronger', and it pains me to see him like that. I still love him, but lately I've been so... disappointed with him. I wish he could be just a bit more like you. Even right after finding your father, you set a new goal for yourself. You're always moving ahead with a clear path."

"Errr, thanks..." he said, noticing how Natsumi was starting to edge closer towards him.

"We're on the edge of breaking up," Natsumi confessed. "And tonight, I think we had the final straw on the camel's back. Oh, Sensei!" she collapsed into his arms crying. "If only I had stayed on the path I first had set for myself!"

"Huh?"

She sobbed loudly. "When-When I first met you, I fell in love with you, like everyone else!" she confessed. "But I didn't have the courage to pursue my dream, like Nodoka and the girls! I was an idiot... choosing to surrender without even fighting! Only because I didn't trust myself! And I never even got to tell you anything! Then I met Kotarou-kun, and for a long while I thought I had gotten over it, that I had found someone else... but now..." she breathed deeply. "Now, I see... I'd have been better if... if..."

"Please don't say it!" he begged.

She lifted her head up, looking up at him with those extremely adorable watery eyes, and his heart melted down. Had he ever noticed before how... beautiful she was?

"Okay..." she softly said. "I won't say it..."

She craned her neck up, her lips brushing against his.

"I'll let actions... to talk instead..."

And then, before his mind even could process it, she was kissing him.

TO BE CONTINUED…

**Author's Notes: **Yes, I know Nagi most likely didn't ever kiss any of his manly Ala Rubra pals. Yeah. Sure. Creative license. That.

Next time, things won't get any easier for Negi!


	2. Chapter 2

The standard copied and pasted disclaimer, because I'm too darn lazy to write an all new one:_ Mahou Sensei Negima_ and all related elements and characters are the property and creation of Akamatsu Ken, and the author of this humble piece has made no material profit from it, and never will do.

Any non-parodic, non-totally safe similarity between the characters and events featured or mentioned in this story and anyone or anything ever actually seen in real life is a pure coincidence. I mean it. Would I ever lie to you? Huh? Huh? Huh?

DEFINITELY NOT COPIED AND PASTED PART: A huge thanks to **Radical Taoist** from the TV Tropes Forum, who suggested and wrote all of this chapter's middle interlude involving three girls not directly involved in the mayhem currently happening at Negi's quarters.

Please review to your heart's content!

BIRTHDAY GIFTS-CHAPTER 2.

Negi finally could muster enough willpower to pull Natsumi away from himself. "S-Sorry! I'd never want to hurt your feelings, but... I can't betray a friend like that, either!"

"I-I understand!" Natsumi nervously stammered, lowering her eyes. "I don't know what came into me! It's just I felt... I felt I needed that so much, I—"

She stopped in mid sentence, noticing the hand he had used to keep her at arm's lenght still was on her chest, absently groping her small right breast. He noticed it as well, quickly pulling the hand back with a terrified yelp. "Ahhh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to...!"

Natsumi blushed even more, her freckles briefly disappearing into a sea of crimson color before she twiddled her fingers together and squeaked a whispered, "Do it again...?"

"What?"

"I'm weak!" she lamented. "I simply need someone to love me, to touch me! Kotarou barely pays me any attention, we hardly kiss anymore! I'm so alone, so miserable! Please, Sensei, at the very least, just give me a hug!"

The young man was suddenly torn between pitying Kotarou's situation and branding him an idiot for not acting on it. But thinking about it, he wasn't one to talk either...

Then, since too long had passed without anyone knocking at the door, it happened again.

Natsumi jumped up in alarm. "Oh, no! If someone sees me here, I'll get you into a problem!"

"Your Artifact!" he urged her.

"Of course!" she was fast to pull her Pactio card out, summoning the _Adjutor Solitarius_ and using it to vanish from sight.

Negi hoped she would use the chance to get out of the room while opening the door with shaky hands, but those hopes were all but crashed down when he saw the slender but heavy frame of Chachamaru unknowingly blocking the way out.

"Negi-sensei," the robot politely bowed, her voice betraying just the slightest hint of uneasiness. "May I... talk with you for a... short while?"

"Uh, yes, of course you can, but... are you sure it can't wait until tomorrow?" he blurted out, now fully noticing Chachamaru was barefooted, and wearing only a semi transparent purple night shirt reaching down to her knees, her matching underwear clearly visible beneath it. He also could feel Natsumi's warm breath blowing on his neck from behind as the actress waited for an escape chance, and that only made him all much more agitated. "I am, aahhhh, tired, and kind of sleepy..."

Chachamaru's head hung down. "I was hoping for you to... receive me before the night is over. I was willing to... grant you a very special gift for your... reaching adulthood, and... and..." She cut herself before completing the sentence, her green eyes abruptly darting for the closet. Negi's heart skipped a few beats.

There was no way to fool Chachamaru's sensors.

The gynoid then looked at the balcony, then at the shower door, at the covered cake, and under the bed. Her expression remained the same, even and quiet, but she nodded in understanding. Negi gulped aloud, but when Chachamaru looked at him again, she showed no signs of anger at all.

"It's been a difficult night, hasn't it?" she asked.

"Very..." he whimpered.

"I'll see what can I do, " Chachamaru began walking towards the closet.

"Wait, don't—!" Negi tried to stop her.

"Sensei, I'll be okay," Chachamaru promised, then whispered on his left ear, "The Master won't hurt me."

He was about to answer she wouldn't, but still, it wasn't a good idea at all, but Chachamaru already had half opened the closet's door, then ducked into it, closing behind herself. The young mage gasped, praying for her to know exactly what was she doing. After a brief seconds of no explosions or screams coming from the inside, he relaxed a bit and went to close the door. On his way there, however, he nearly bumped into Natsumi's invisible body, and he wondered why hadn't she left yet. Then he actually looked at the frame of the open door, and as he felt Natsumi hiding right behind him, he knew what had gone horribly wrong now.

Even after all that time, Natsumi still was scared of the Averrunci.

And one of them had just showed up at the door, feet in slippers, a light blue robe loosely tied around her thin pale body.

Sextum-san.

"May I come in, Negi-san?" the female Averruncus said.

Her voice was silky and beautiful, and flowed like pristine cold water, yet always with a slightly inhuman edge to it. Her intelligent, gray eyes were full with a subdued vitality; many of his students said they were a snake's eyes. Like all her brethren, she was impressively fast, managing to sneak past him and into the room, closing the door after herself, before he could utter a 'No'.

Her steps were firm, yet also quiet and silent. There seemed to be just the slightest calculated sensual pace to her walking, as her hips shifted around discreetly with each step.

"What... What has brought you here, Sextum-san?" Negi attempted to smile, feeling a sharp ill feeling in his gut. Even after the defeat of Kosmo Entelecheia, even after its members had reached an uneasy co existence with Ala Alba and their allies, the old spark of past enmities always lurked under the surface.

She paused, stopping before the balcony, thoughtfully putting a hand on its frame, looking outside at the cold Vespertarian night. Nodoka and Yue edged away a few inches apart from her, keeping their breaths low, attempting their best to stay unnoticed. Finally, much to their momentary relief, Sextum turned around and said, "Negi-san, I still have much to learn about you."

"About me?" he cluelessly repeated.

"About you all. Human beings," she coolly spoke. "You are full of foolishness, and yet your lives... seem to have more purpose than ours. Master Dynamis has tried to give me some answers, but I believe his judgement on it, accurate as it may be in some parts, is... flawed in the whole."

"Well, Dynamis-san..." Negi pondered how to say it, "... has his own perspective on life. You can't get answers on the meaning of life from asking a single source, even the wisest one. It's a life long quest, and every day yields us some new results."

Sextum nodded, shifting her head a bit aside. For a moment, Negi wondered if he had just seen a pale shade of pink flushing over her cheeks at the moonlight. "I thought you might say something like that. You always have said there isn't a single path, haven't you? Even back then, when we stuck to our way without looking past it, you always looked for alternatives..."

"Maybe I should have listened to your points a bit better, as well," he confessed.

She looked back at it. "Negi-san, what is love?"

"Pardon me?" he blinked.

"The Master says it's something I must learn by myself. Brother Tertium will not even talk about it, and my other brothers have no use for it. But Brother Tertium's followers say it's something a woman must pursue with the man she's the closest to."

Negi tried not to cringe in fear. "I am... Am I... The closest man to you?"

She nodded. "Other than the members of my family, if you can call them that, yes. You have been there for us even when your companions wished for nothing but our banishment. And I understand this is a very special occasion for you. If I do something that pleases you, would you teach me more about life and love in trade?"

"I am not... that kind of teacher, " he helplessly eeped. "Are you telling me you still haven't learned the basics on what's human love after all these years?"

"Like you said, we learn about it every day. And, have you actually learned all there is to learn about it?" she challenged.

Now that stunned him. "... No, I guess not, but..."

"Let's learn together, then," she whispered. Before he could even think of stopping her, she undid her robe's belt, allowing it to flutter down to the door. She had been wearing nothing underneath.

The first time Negi had seen her naked, at the battlefield, he hadn't even thought twice about it.

Now it was a fully different story.

"S-S-Sex-Sextum-san!" he tried to avert his eyes as she stepped out of her slippers, being in a flash right before him, lightly teasing his chest with her fingers. "N-N-No, no, don't do that...!"

At that moment, everyone still hiding was about to spring up ready to do battle, even Natsumi... except for Kotarou, peacefully snoring crouched down at a corner of the shower stall. However, before an epic battle could break out, everyone was frozen down again by yet another knock at the door.

"Oh," Sextum's eyes blinked twice. "It would seem we will continue this conversation later."

She quickly, yet elegantly, stepped into the tiny kitchen of Negi's mini apartment, opening the icebox and hiding into it, shutting the door close after herself.

Negi gave the icebox a dubious look. "Sextum-san? Are you sure you'll be okay there?"

"I'm in my element, " her voice replied. "Now go. I can last for hours and hours in here."

"Okay, if you say so..." he sighed, then went to attend the door.

This time, he found himself face to face with Zazie Rainyday.

"...!" he said.

"..." Zazie greeted back, in pajamas and rubbing her sleepy eyes off. Then she peered into the room, looking in all directions for a few seemingly eternal moments before staring at Negi's eyes and simply whispering,

"Sorry. Wrong room."

And without a single more word, she headed down the hall, soon disappearing from sight.

Negi slammed the door shut and breathed deeply. "THANK YOU, GOD!"

Then he noticed Kaede was somehow standing right before him. "GAHHH! Kaede-san?-!-? How did you?-! When did you?-!"

She just smiled and shook a finger around. "Nin-Nin!"

"... Oh. Of course. Wait, how long have you—"

"Just arrived, Negi-bouzou!" her smile grew even bigger. "Don't you wonder where's Zazie heading, too?"

"Not really," he confessed.

"What's wrong with you? You look very spent, de gozaru."

"It's been a... stressing night," he said. "I think I need some serious rest..."

"What if we take a bath?"

"We?"

"Like that time at the hills..."

"I was only a child then!"

"That's exactly the point," the tall woman smirked mischievously. "You'll see, Negi-bouzou, I... ah..." Her voice trailed off, and she chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of her neck. "This is new to me. I'm not used to have problems saying what I want to say..."

"I envy you," he deflated.

**Interlude:**

_Minutes before..._

A short while away, further into the capital city, Kazumi had returned to her flat. It was a nice space; sway with the royal family had its perks, and the neighbourhoods close to the palace were gorgeous. Mostly, though, she appreciated that it left her within radio range. She'd retired from Negi's birthday party early along with a few other girls, claiming that she didn't want to drink too much. A quick look around her flat at this moment would give the lie to that. There were too many empties scattered around the floor, Sakurako had too much in the way of mixing equipment arranged in front of her in the kitchen, and there was far too much sway in Mana's stagger as she paced around the room singing, half-full martini glass in hand.

_"Estas son...las mañaniiiiitas que cantaba el rey David…"_

Kazumi sniffed from her position on the couch. Mana was horribly out of tune. "Just how drunk are you, girl? I'd never thought I'd hear you singing birthday songs from Puerto Rico."

"Extremely!...drunk, " answered Mana with the dignity of someone who is sloshed but too proud to accept it. She pointed at the reporter with the hand holding her martini. "Unlike me, that song...is from Mexico."

Sakurako shook her head and rested her elbows on the kitchen counter. "I think I'm cutting you off now, Mana-chan. You're taking this too hard."

"Too hard? Too goddamn hard?" Mana spluttered in drunken outrage, gesturing at the screens and whiteboard in front of the couch where Kazumi was sitting. "You two are robbing me blind and you accuse me of taking it too hard? You...you..." Lost for words, Mana gulped the rest of the martini down.

The screens and whiteboard were the centre of attention in the apartment, and necessary for the main reason the three girls were still up. With her considerable financial rewards gained from helping save the world, Kazumi had invested heavily in a home entertainment system, and now the three girls were watching the input from the Oculus Corvinus in high definition and surround sound. Kazumi had subtly arranged her Artifact's sensors at key points around Negi's quarters, and now they could track the activities of everyone entering or leaving their teacher's bedroom in normal light, x-ray, and infra red. Kazumi had thrown the x-ray setting on after realizing Evangeline didn't show on the infra red.

Next to the screens, the whiteboard contained a tally for the activity that was the girls' raison du fête. There was a long list of names, including every known classmate and associate they suspected of trying to visit Negi tonight - over 40 people in all. Besides them were three columns, one for each of the girls, in which the numbers were tallied on who better for or against a competitor appearing, how far they thought the competitor would get, and how much they'd bet on that. Eight names were crossed out, and from the red marks and calculations on the side, it was pretty clear that Shiina and Kazumi were cleaning Mana out.

Kazumi just sipped her rum and coke, dismissing the gunslinger with a snort. "Quit whining, bitch. Misa beat Ku Fei to Negi's apartment. You lost fair and square." She reached for a walkie-talkie and thumbed the button. "Any more movement in the hallway by Camera 3?"

A ghostly hand waved hello one one of the screens, and Sayo's voice came in over the intercom. The phantasmal schoolgirl didn't care for betting, and had really wanted to see the outcome of tonight's competition first hand. "I've got someone coming down the hallway. I think - yep, that's Chachamaru!"

While that exchange was going on, Mana had begun staggering in Sakurako's direction again. "She tells me to quit whining? And they call me ruthless!...Shiina...Shiina. Make me another martini, Shiina."

"Sure thing," came Shiina's response, as she reached under the counter for the water bottle. Mana's next martini was going to be extra soft. She turned to Kazumi as Sayo made her report. "Told you she had more nerve than Chisame. Pay up."

"DAMN it!" As Chachamaru reached the door on-screen, Kazumi stood up and reluctantly reached for her wallet, glaring at Shiina. "What the hell is Hasegawa waiting for? I was sure she'd beat the robot. I should've kicked you out when Misa showed up in that damn cake."

"On the kitchen counter please." Shiina gestured with her head as she spoke, her hands busy mixing Mana's next 'martini'. "Remember to update the board, and don't give me that. I told you the extent of my help, I didn't expect Madoka to get the cake to his room that fast, and I didn't bet on Misa since it wouldn't be fair."

"Even if you didn't bet on her, she still pushed more people out of the first ten. Chisame better make it in next with all the money I have on her. Sayo, Chachamaru pick us up on her sensors yet?"

"Doesn't seem like it!" came the response over the radio. "The window cameras should be out of her range. That zoom upgrade you got is really something!"

"At least you weren't betrayed by a friend," sobbed Mana as she accepted her fake drink. "Ku Fei...how could you? Not making it in the first ten okay, but getting beaten by Misa? Getting beaten by _freaking Natsumi_? How could - wait. Wait. Wait."

Kazumi realized by this point that Mana was pointing at one of the screens. She took a look at what she was pointing at, and promptly dropped her drink.

"Oh my," commented Shiina.

In the view of the Oculus Corvinus, walking determinately to Negi's door, was Sextum.

"Oh, yes," croaked Mana.

A quick look at the blackboard confirmed it - Kazumi had bet against Mana on the female Averruncus showing up at all the whole night.

"Oh, no," whispered Kazumi.

Ten to one odds.

"YES! YES YES YES!" Mana threw her drink glass over her shoulder, rushing to see the screen up close. "About damn TIME!"

"Holy-!" squealed an excited Sayo over the radio. "Kazumi, do you see this?"

Kazumi did see this. Kazumi had not only made the bet against Mana, but also bet on Chisame making it in the first ten girls to try jumping Sensei's bones. When Sextum knocked on that door, she was going to cost Kazumi more than the HD screen Kazumi was watching her on. "NOOOOOOOOO!" the journalist screamed, running forward and shoving Mana out of the way to grip the TV. "YOU SOULLESS SLUT! NEGI SHOULDA KILLED YOU WHEN HE HAD THE CHANCE!"

Kazumi's ranting was cut off by a pistol barrel in her eye. "Get the fuck out of the way. Wanna see this."

"Umm, Mana," Shiina interjected nervously as Sextum proceeded to bankrupt Kazumi. "You promised no gun threats."

"Not demanding money." Mana watched the events on her screen with a slightly manic grin, looking at Sextum in the screen with what appeared to be open affection. "Just want to see my girl making money, God bless her."

As a sobbing Kazumi started forking over bills, Sayo's voice came over the radio trying to comfort her friend. Shiina had to chuckle when she noticed another unexpected figure appear in Hallway Camera 4. They hadn't even put Rainyday on the board; no one had expected her to try.

"Didn't see that coming. Damn." The cheerleader grinned and raised her margarita. "And to think Kugimin suggested I go to bed early!"

**Back to Palace:**

Kaede still seemed to be somewhat uneasy herself as she carelessly dragged a foot around. "Negi-bouzou, you know there's no one I respect more than you, de gozaru..."

"Thanks, I appreciate it with all my heart, but..."

"With ALL of your heart?" she smirked, yet there was something lacking with her expression, as if a shadow of a doubt brought her normal cheerfulness down.

"Kaede, I get what you're trying to say, but this isn't the way to..."

"No, I guess it isn't," she looked down, with a brief and stiff chuckle. "I guess I just wanted to say... I'll always be your faithful retainer, no matter what, and I don't care how long I have to wait, even my whole life... If I get to ultimately give you EVERYTHING I have, I'll be happy..."

"You don't have to consider yourself my retainer or servant. Think of us as equals. Friends."

For once, she half opened her eyes to look at his. They were gorgeous eyes. "That's exactly the problem, Negi-bouzou. I value your friendship a lot, but... It just isn't enough for me, de gozaru..."

He opened his mouth to talk, but no sound managed to come out of it.

"I know it's an egoist thing from me to ask..." she said, moving closer, then hugging him softly. She was one of the only three girls at the class who still were able to look at a more or less even eye level with him now he had grown up so much. "I guess it's only a hopeless dream, but still, I had to give it a chance. And I insist, my offer will always stand, whenever you—"

Naturally, someone outside chose that moment to knock at the door.

Negi paled again as Kaede broke the embrace. She winked an eye at him. "I'll be around, just in case someone does something you wouldn't like, de gozaru. Trust me."

"I—!" he began to say, but then she whipped her cloak out and disappeared as abruptly as Natsumi had before.

Negi groaned, shook his head, and wandered back to the door. He was ready for anyone from Graff Herrmann in lingerie to Tsukuyomi naked and bathed in chocolate now. Or so he thought.

Because when he saw Chisame standing at the door, his heart still gave an U-turn.

She was wearing a frilly black baby doll with stockings and slippers, her hair loose, lacking her glasses. She also was clearly troubled, nibbling on her lower lip and breathing at short, rapid intervals. As he stood there looking at her, paralyzed, she finally managed to speak first, trying to sound casual.

"Ummm... hello. Good night. I mean, I see you're still awake..." she sighed, closing her eyes. "S-Sorry. I must be sounding like an idiot. Um, would you happen to know where's Chachamaru?"

"Chachamaru?" he blandly repeated.

Chisame struggled to talk again, looking at every side. "Yeah, well, we were talking a short while ago... She told me she might be coming here..."

"She told you that...?"

"It was more of a confession than anything..." she amended. A long pause. "She told me she wanted to be honest with me about it..." another, even uneasier pause. "Because she wanted 'a fair competition'..."

"Ah," he only said, his mind almost burned out.

"She even... suggested me to try at the same time..."

"Ah?"

"N-Not like that! I mean, like asking you which one would you... You know... Not THAT, at least not right now, unless you wanted it, I mean, it was basically to ask you which one was... is... closest to you?" she finished.

"I think... I understand."

"I told her it was unfair to put that weight on you, right now, and she seemed to agree... but she still didn't sound that convinced, so..."

"You came here to make sure she wouldn't...?"

She exhaled deeply, then gathered her courage and pointed down at herself. "Do you think this is the clothing I usually wear to talk a girl out of anything? Y-You idiot, can't you see I'm here to... ahhh... get there before she does?-!"

"Really?-!" his eyes bugged out.

She facepalmed. "You still need everything drawn out for you, don't you?"

"But you told Chachamaru..."

"I know! But then I thought about it, and told myself, hell, if we're going to keep on waiting for you to give the first step, we're all going to die old maids! Just look at what I'm saying! I mean, just listen to it! Why must you drive me crazy like this? I'm making such a monumental idiot out of myself..."

"Chisame, you've never been an idiot..."

"Yes, I am," she bitterly said.

"No, you aren't!"

"Yes, I am," she sniffed. "Only an idiot would lack enough dignity... to do this..."

She drew in a very deep breath, then sprang up to wrap her arms around Negi's neck and mash her lips against his in a wild kiss.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	3. Chapter 3

The standard copied and pasted disclaimer, because I'm too darn lazy to write an all new one:_ Mahou Sensei Negima_ and all related elements and characters are the property and creation of Akamatsu Ken, and the author of this humble piece has made no material profit from it, and never will do.

Any non-parodic, non-totally safe similarity between the characters and events featured or mentioned in this story and anyone or anything ever actually seen in real life is a pure coincidence. I mean it. Would I ever lie to you? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huhu? Huh?

Hu—Okay, I'll stop it now.

DEFINITELY NOT COPIED AND PASTED PART: A huge thanks to **Darkenning ** from the TV Tropes Forum and of _Decadent Habits_ fame, who co-wrote most of this chapter's content. But there's no incest here, **if** that worries you.

Please review to your heart's content!

**Last Time, on **_**Birthday Gifts**_**:**

Chisame drew in a very deep breath, then sprang up to wrap her arms around Negi's neck and mash her lips against his in a wild kiss.

**And Now ...**

Chisame continued to kiss Negi.

**Meanwhile ...**

She rocked her hips up against his thrusts, fingernails clawing at his shoulder blades as her mouth worked furiously against his. At last, her spread thighs tensed and her lower legs wrapped tightly around his buttocks as he spilled his seed into her with a low moan, accompanied by her tightly controlled hiss of release as his climax sparked her own.

"That was great," Nagi sighed as he rested on top of his wife.

"That was adequate," Arika responded coolly. "A subsequent iteration may yet prove to be great."

"Subse— woman, come on, are you trying to kill me?" the Thousand Master yelped. "We've already done it three times tonight! Don't you want a rest, yet?"

"Not particularly," the former queen said, shaking her head briskly. "I had plenty of time to rest in the ten years we were separated. Now I wish for physical satisfaction. As for whether I am trying to kill you ... I have contingencies prepared for that event."

"I bet you do," the greatest wizard of the age muttered as he tried to recuperate his forces in a hurry. Then he frowned. "Wait a minute, what do you mean you had plenty of time to rest while we were separated? You were —"

"And I rested while I was," Arika interrupted.

"Nice trick."

"Thank you. Are you ready to continue?"

"Almost, " he sighed. At least there was no chance of being interrupted, whether by friends, family or enemies. The locks on the only door were firmly bolted, there were no windows to this boudoir, and it was shielded against teleportation, magical communication or scrying. They had the ultimate in privacy.

"How about now?" Arika asked with a touch of asperity in her tone.

He was about to make a gentle demurral when he realized that, indeed, he was ready to continue. Sometimes, he was almost sure that she had somehow figured out a way to use some kind of magic on him without his realizing it. But that was surely just paranoia.

Right?

Anyway, he resumed his labors, and this iteration was judged 'good' by Arika. Not yet 'great'. But she was willing to give him another chance.

_Negi, _he thought, _please DON'T marry a girl like your mother._

**Elsewhere!**

Chisame continued to kiss Negi.

**Meanwhile ...**

"I'm sure that she will have succeeded by now," Konoemon predicted calmly as he sat at the table drinking tea. "Within a few weeks, they'll be happily married."

"I'm still not sure about all of this," Eishun replied, shaking his head as he sat on the other side of the table. "Using my daughter in this way ... does not sit well with me."

"Would you rather sell her to one of the families in Kyoto?" the old man asked pointedly. "Would that sit better with you?"

"No, of course it wouldn't. I'm just not sure that this is a real improvement on that, however."

"Oh, come now, son-in-law, she's at least fond of the boy. The gambit we've played is finally entering the endgame, and I think that the resolution will be pleasing for everyone."

"Whereas I think that there may yet be some unexpected surprise," Eishun countered.

"And I think you're both fools," said the woman who now entered the headmaster's office, having stepped out to take a brief bathroom break. Konoe Konoeko looked much like an older version of her only daughter, her dark hair just a bit dappled with grey. "Life is not a game of shogi, father."

"Ah, so little faith from my own children," Konoemon lamented. "Then what do you think will happen?"

"I think that she will pursue the goal you imagine, but that she will have her own agenda in doing so, " Konoeko replied as she sat down beside her husband. "And that while that agenda might include thoughts of marriage, I think it much more likely that all that she truly wants is a ride on the boy's bologna pony."

For a few moments, neither man said anything. Then, they slowly chorused, "Bologna pony?"

"Sorry," she airily apologized. "Would you prefer the term, 'rubicante warrior of love'?"

"Uh, no, " they chorused again, shaking their heads in stereo.

"Very well," Konoeko said with a shrug as she poured herself a glass of tea.

"I don't think our daughter is as promiscuous as that, " Eishun opined as he took up his own cup.

"Yes, but you do think I was a virgin on our wedding night, " she pointed out gently.

Tea spewed across the room.

**Elsewhere!**

Chisame continued to kiss Negi.

**Meanwhile ...**

"I don't believe it," Kazumi said, staring in amazement at the display. "She's been keeping it up for five whole minutes. That's ... that's the longest kiss I've ever even heard of." Abruptly, she grabbed Mana's shirt. "Do you know what this means?"

"I sure hope it means hands off the merchandise, " Mana said warningly. Her earlier good mood had evaporated as soon as Kaede had arrived in Negi's room, as she'd rather foolishly put good money on a bet that her eternal ninja rival wouldn't show up. If Kaede actually progressed beyond showing up there, and actually got jiggy with Negi, it was going to be very difficult for Mana to resist the temptation to go there herself and show that rotten ninja a thing or two. Or three. Even if it would invalidate all the wagers she'd placed.

Kazumi released her grip on Mana's shirt. "It means that despite everything, we live in a logical universe. It means that the universe doesn't respond to human attributes, but moves in accordance with its logic. The universe doesn't care whether you're a hot-blooded boy or a cute girl, it will only reward you if you live in accordance with logic. With logic all things are possible, without it, there is nothing!"

"I don't think you're using the word logic right," Shiina said after a moment.

"Shaddap, you!" Kazumi snarled, pointing a finger accusingly towards Shiina. "You're the worst violator of logic around, you and your luck!"

"I'm just lucky sometimes," Shiina replied defensively.

"Well, you're not gonna be so lucky now!" Kazumi crowed. "After a kiss that long, the only thing that makes any sort of logical sense is for them to do it! And it doesn't matter that Hasegawa dragged her feet until she wasn't in the first ten, because I'm going to make back all the money that I lost when they do it! Sayo! Sayo, baby, get in close and let me know what they're saying!"

"Well, okay, but I really don't think they're saying anything much at the moment, and ... oh, wait a second ..."

**Meanwhile...**

Chisame continued to kiss Negi ... and then, quite abruptly, she let go of him, coughed and said, "Wow, this was such a bad idea."

"What?" asked a flustered Negi a moment later.

("What?" asked a flustered Kazumi another moment later, when Sayo repeated Chisame's words.)

"No, no, this is, this is just not going to work. I mean, setting aside all the other girls, who'd probably just as soon kill me as look at me if they knew that I was doing this, I mean, this is not what I want out of life. I-I-I mean, I don't care what Poyo thinks, I want a normal life, and, and I'm never going to get it as long as I'm with you."

"What?" Negi asked again.

(Kazumi didn't repeat him this time. She was too busy howling incoherent abuse.)

"So ... yeah. This is a bad idea. When, when Chachamaru shows up, um, tell her that I'm withdrawing, okay? Uh, that's the right, right thing to do, I think ... um. You're great. I really think that you're great, and if I didn't want a normal life, if I really did want a life of wizardry and wild romance, then, then there's no one I'd want to be with more than you, but I don't want that. I don't." Chisame was nodding and slowly backing away towards the door.

"But, Chisame —" Negi started to say.

"Please, please, don't try and stop me," Chisame interrupted, continuing to back away. "I mean, if, if you did that, I'd have to stay, and I'd be miserable all the time, and eventually I'd make you miserable too, and so, don't, don't stop me. This is really for the best, you know?"

("You stupid stupid woman!" Kazumi shouted at the display showing Chisame backing up out of the doorway. "You're turning it into a shaggy dog story! Where is the logic in any of this!"

"Oh, look, " Shiina said blandly. "Someone put a lot of money on 'Chisame almost does it but backs out before following through'. Pays out 20-1 odds, too. Oh, and that someone just happens to be me. Well. I guess I'm just really lucky."

With a shriek of disbelieving fury, Kazumi leapt on Shiina with homicidal intent.)

Negi had no idea what he was supposed to do in this sort of situation. He settled for something he'd seen in a TV drama.

"No. You won't leave," he said, grabbing her by an arm and kissing her again.

Okay, it hadn't been a very good drama, and come to think about it, it wasn't the wisest thing to say and do in such a situation, but what was done, was done.

**Meanwhile...**

Misa's limbs were starting to feel stiff.

Trapped inside of a cake in her underwear, doubled unto herself with chunks of chocolate in her hair. Definitely not the way she had expected for the night to turn out.

Someone was out there talking with Sensei. Was that Chisame? It sounded like Chisame, yes. The whole enterprise had just been shot to Hell. Better to make a graceful exit before Hell became even hotter.

Misa reached down and grabbed the cell phone she had brought along just in case.

_Madoka?_ she texted. _It's me. Mission aborted. Come and get me out ASAP._

Madoka's reply came fairly quickly. _What happened?_

_Chisame's here. I think. I believe I heard Natsumi too._

_What the—? Chisame, I can see it, but what is Natsumi doing there?_

_I don't know. Just come here for me, okay? I'm hiding inside the cake, so don't mention me. Just say... you came for the cake. _

_What do I say when they ask me why?_

_I don't know! I'm trapped, I can't think of anything right now!_

_... I'm on my way._

Misa sighed as she closed the phone back.

Outside of the sugary goodness, Chisame nervously pulled back from the new kiss.

"Chisame-san..." Negi blinked several times, with almost no breath left.

She looked down. "I'm sorry. I..." she rubbed the tears suddenly coming to her eyes, "I should know I have no chance. I'm not as beautiful, cute, smart or nice as the others. I'm just a crabby bitch who acts as the stick in the mud no matter what. But... But, I just felt I had to—"

"Don't ever say that, Chisame-chan, " he protested. "You're a wonderful person, and one of my—"

"Best friends?" she sniffled. "That's... That's something very touching, but... never enough to... to placate a heart in love," she sadly admitted. "Again, I'm sorry. Look at me, talking as if I wanted to force you into something. I don't want to! I don't need your pity, either... I only want to vent this out, because it's been burning a hole into my soul for so long, and I... I..."

She couldn't keep it up, and clumsily dashed for the balcony. "Excuse me. I need some fresh air!"

"Chisame, no—!" Negi tried to catch her, partly because of fear of her finding the librarians, but also partly because of fear of her throwing herself out. However, Chisame was out there in pretty much a second, breathing heavily as trying to hold back her torrents of tears. Negi walked out after her, looking around for some sign of Nodoka and Yue. He finally saw them when he looked up; Yue had her wand in a hand, and held it up keeping a levitating spell up, with Nodoka clutched to her body for dear life. From above, they looked down at the sobbing Hasegawa with quiet, melancholic sympathy only marred by the briefest occasional streaks of raging spiteful jealousy.

He also could see their panties from that angle, so he quickly looked away again, blushing crimson.

After a few moments of breathing in and out loudly, Chisame wiped the rest of her tears off and walked back inside, much to Negi's relief. He followed her closely again, patting her on a shoulder as Yue and Nodoka came back down and quickly retook their hiding places, striving to look inside without being spotted. Yue barely noticed Nodoka whispering the summoning for her book, her fingers tracing over the pages as she read the thoughts of everyone at the quarters, her face switching from pity to embarrassment to livid fury to confusion at random intervals.

"I think maybe I should leave," Chisame bitterly said. "Leaving forever, because if I stay here, I won't ever be happy, and I won't allow any of you to be happy either..."

"No," he grabbed her by a hand. "We'll never be happy without you." A pause. "I'll never be happy without your company."

Her lips trembled as she looked up at his face. "Sensei..."

"Call me Negi, please," he asked softly.

"Negi..." the single word left her mouth tentatively.

At the room right under Negi's, however, the mood was definitely different.

Takane D. Goodman finally sat up on her bed, fed up with all the noise coming from above. Steps, sobs, muffled drunk screams, smooching sounds, and those weird thumping sounds coming from where she guessed Negi's bed was. It almost sounded like two animals were fighting under that bed.

The blond guest covered her nudity up with a bed robe, grabbed a broom and hit the room's ceiling with it, angrily. "Negi-sensei, keep it down! We're trying to sleep here!"

No reply. The thumping sounds, if anything, only grew harder.

Mei stirred in the bed, pulling the bedsheets tighter against her own nude body. "Takane, please, just let it pass..." she sleepily begged. "Come back here... I feel cold without you here..."

"Only a moment, Mei-chan," she huffed, squeezing the robe even tighter and grabbing her slippers. "Negi-sensei may be a prince now, but even he has to respect our rights to have a good night of rest!"

"What if we don't rest then...?" Mei invited, smiling weakly, with a goofy small expression nearly drowned in her lazy stupor.

The taller woman pondered it before smiling back. "As soon as I come back, " she promised.

Mei groaned as Takane left, closing the door behind her. Oh, she was so stubborn. Once she put her mind into something...

The petite woman grumbled to herself, wrapped herself further with the sheets, and reached down with a hand. Might as well prepare herself for the main event, anyway.

...

There were a few loud bangs at the door, startling Chisame out of her romantic mood and almost making Negi to scream like a girl.

"Oh, no!" she panicked, biting her tongue to avoid being too loud. "Someone's here! Someone's here! And they'll see me! And they'll kill us both! And—!" Then she scowled jealously. "Wait. Who's going to get into your room at this time of night? What kind of skank..." She realized that would involve her as well, so she just shook her head and said, while the angry slams grew louder, "N-Never mind! Just get rid of whoever that is! We'll continue... talking... later!"

"But where will you—" he asked, then saw her ducking behind his dressing screen and holding a finger over her lips.

"Just do it!" she hissed, then pulled her head in as well, disappearing from sight.

Negi ran his hands through his hair and sheepishly walked for the door, trying to tell himself he had had a good life. From the way it sounded, it seemed to be Asuna, or perhaps Anya. No doubt they had figured at least part of what was happening out, and now there would be hell to pay. In a way, it would be almost a release at that point, though.

The last person he expected to see, although in retrospect he should have suspected it, was Takane, shouting her head off at him.

"FINALLY! SENSEI, EVEN BEING THE PRINCE DOESN'T GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO KEEP US UP ALL NIGHT LONG!"

"Ah! I'm sorry, Takane-san!" He actually was relieved to see someone coming at him with clearly non romantic intentions. At least, he hoped she had actually none at all. It was always hard to tell with females of that kind. "I was... watching TV! But I turned it off! I'm-I'm going to sleep right now, so you can leave without any—"

"Mmmmm? Negi? You talkin' to m—" a still somewhat drunk, even if more clear minded now, Kotaro had just emerged from the shower room wearing a towel... wrapped around his shoulders as he rubbed his hair dry. Unfortunately, he wasn't wearing a towel where it mattered the most.

Takane's eyes bugged out. "What in the—!"

"Yow!" Kotaro yelped, quickly covering his crotch with the towel. "Hey, Nee-san, knock on the damn door before walking into someone else's room, willya?"

"I-I knocked! Several times, and with extreme force!" she roared as Negi buried his face into his hands, holding his urges to weep. Then there was a stunned pause on Takane's part. "A second. So, those bed-thumping noises we heard... and now you're walking out of the shower..."

Negi's face twitched, while Kotaro remained in an apathetic stupor now, apparently not getting it.

Takane's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Were you two doing... male bonding?"

"Hell, no!" Negi blurted out.

"Hell, yeah. What's so wrong about it?" Inugami snorted. "We do male bonding all the time! At sparring, after it, at the baths! We're two of a kind, after all!"

"You are, huh...?" Takane lifted an eyebrow, unsure of what to do now. Mei-chan would be disappointed; she still held kind of a flame over the uncouth dog-boy, as she had admitted after accidentally screaming his name at a climax. It had taken her a lot of effort to convince Takane of forgiving her; even more to convince her of putting on a black wig, fake ears and a tail during their make believe Wednesdays. Really, it was humbling. And yet, right now, the idea of Negi and Kotaro going at it heavily on that bed right over theirs... it was becoming strangely appealing...

She smiled slowly, which unnerved Negi even more. "I can explain..."

"No, I already understand, Sensei, " she said, sounding far too actually understanding for comfort. "I know what it's like, to hide your relationship from the cruel, harsh eyes of an uncaring society. For far too long, Mei-chan and me were afraid of revealing the true depth of our link..."

"Why would you?" Kotaro snorted, still not getting it at all. "That's normal between mages, isn't it?"

"Well, not that much, actually, but..."

"She doesn't mean their Pactio, Kotaro-kun, " Negi clenched his teeth.

"Huh? Then what else could she—"

Then a soft voice spoke from the still open door. "Excuse me...?"

Negi jumped in terror, but Kotaro and Takane only looked indifferently at the doorstep, where Zazie stood up wearing only a see-through negligee. "We have run out of ice cubes. Sensei, would you happen to have some...?"

"I— I—" Negi babbled. "Yes, I have—"

"I'll go for them, " Kotaro tumbled for the mini kitchen.

"NO! NO, I MEAN, DON'T BOTHER! I'LL BRING THEM MYSELF!" Negi ran past him.

"What's the problem with him tonight?" Kotaro snorted, sitting down on the bed.

"Zazie-san, who are you with?" Takane asked. "And why would you have need of ice cubes at this time?"

Zazie blushed faintly at Kotaro's sight and gestured for Takane to lean closer. As the blond did it, she had something whispered into her ear. "Oh... Oh, I see! Yes, Mei-chan and me do sometimes, too. May I suggest you a few things? She's around the same size as Mei-chan, so she should love this..."

**Meanwhile...**

Somehow, despite keeping his eyes closed and his hands clamped over his face all the way, Negi made his way to the kitchenette. He drew in a very deep breath, gathered his courage, and opened the fridge. Sure enough, he was met by Sextum's calm, stoic eyes staring right into his.

"I'll need some ice, please," he asked.

She nodded, handing him a small plastic bag with five cubes in it. "Will this be enough?"

"I think so. Thanks," he whispered, and after a second, posed a question. "Aren't you... chilly in there?"

The naked girl shook her head. "Ice is my element." A very brief beat. "But it _is_ tight in here."

"I'll get you out as soon as I can," Negi promised, before closing the door and walking back to the door. "Here it is, Zazie-san."

"Thanks," the acrobat said, taking the bag. She bowed for her teacher, Kotaro and Takane, and came back the way she had arrived.

Takane smiled and closed the door. "Well, now we can continue talking. Boys, while I understand how... ah... eager to vent out you may be in such a special date, and after all the time you have hidden this, it's still wrong and rude to make such a scandal. Not to mention the girls might hear you, as well. Frankly, I'm shocked Evangeline, Asuna, Nodoka-san and everyone else isn't here already."

Kotaro frowned. "What are you talking about? We haven't been making any—"

Then his ears finally caught the faint sounds of moaning and humping under the bed, his drunk stupor beginning to fade away. "What was that?"

"My bed is under a spell," Negi said.

Both of his friends made dumbfounded expressions. "Pardon me?" Takane asked.

"A curse that makes hard for me to sleep," Negi tried to explain. "That's why I would appreciate if you—"

"Why don't you dump that bed and get yourself another one?" Kotaro scratched his scalp.

Then Takane noticed another thing. She picked Sextum's discarded robe and slippers from the floor. "And what is this?" Looking at Kotaro's frame, naked save for the towel around his body, she asked, "I understand why you'd wear this if you're the uke, Inugami-san, but isn't it a bit too small for you?"

"Stop talking in riddles, woman!" Kotaro barked. "I haven't understood a single word of what you've said tonight!"

Then, another person rapped on the door.

Negi yelped. "Hide!"

"Why?" Kotaro inquired.

"Yes. Why? We aren't doing anything bad," Takane said. "Well, I'm not. You two, well, it's for the best if this is known before the girls are even more heartbroken than—"

"People will misunderstand!" Negi hissed. "You know how they are!"

Takane paused. "You have a point, all right. Well, Inugami-san, go hide under that cursed bed. I'll hide in the closet in the meanwhile..."

"No! No!" Negi grabbed her by an arm, shaking his head and almost crying. "Go back into the shower, please!"

Takane blinked just as the rapping repeated itself. "Why?"

"... The closet is cursed too," was the best Negi could offer.

Kotaro moaned. "I still don't know why I must do this. Not like there's anything bad with two guys alone in a room..."

"I'll explain you later!" Takane huffed, taking him into the shower with her, and taking the robe and slippers with them. "But whoever that is, dispatch them quickly, Sensei! I have... important things to do!" Her tone was almost threatening as she closed the door on his face.

In the room below, Mei moaned, fingering herself to a climax...

Negi's teeth chattered for a moment, but he quickly recomposed himself, regained a semblance of normalcy, and headed back for the front door.

"Is this a bad time?" Makie asked him anxiously as she stood in the hallway, wearing a bathrobe and bunny slippers.

Something deep within Negi urged him to answer yes, to tell her that it was in fact a very bad time. But that something was drowned out beneath his deeply trained courtesy and tact. "No, not at all, " he lied. "Come in."

Makie smiled brightly, then came in through the doorway and shut it behind her. "Um, well, here's the thing. I've been thinking about things, and I've realized that I've been going about this all wrong. I mean, look at Nodoka, she just went and told you that she liked you, and she kissed you those times, and so you've gotten really close to her. Because she took initiative, instead of waiting for the right moment, like I've been doing. So I'm going to do what she did, sort of."

"Uh, Makie, this might not be a —"

"Probably, but I'm doing it anyway, " Makie said, undoing her robe's belt and letting it drop to the floor around her ankles, revealing that she was completely naked underneath. "Negi, I want to fuck you, " she said calmly.

**To be Continued…**


End file.
